RUSI Holds Its Second Annual Latin American Security Conference
On Thursday 25th January, RUSI hosted its second annual Latin American Security Conference, opened by UK Minister for the Armed Forces Rt Hon James Heappey MP.
In the context of growing insecurity and destabilisation in Latin America, the conference brought together policymakers, leading academic experts and other stakeholders to examine past and present models of collaboration and consider ways to achieve sustainable peace in the region.
The conference included interactive and case study panels exploring the region’s geopolitics and global power competition, military and defence governance, diplomacy and foreign relations, and resilience and risk management.
In his opening address to the conference, Minister Heappey said:
We are building our defence partnerships in Latin America and the Caribbean on three pillars: persistent presence, enhancing capacity and open dialogue… [there must also be] a broader conversation between our service personnel, our industry experts and our academics.
Rt Hon James Heappey MP
Reflecting on the conference, RUSI’s Senior Research Fellow for Latin American Security, Dr Carlos Solar said:
Escalating threats in Latin America – including organised crime, drug trafficking and political instability – have given a new urgency to developing collaborative and robust responses to the region’s security challenges. For a consecutive year, we were pleased to be able to host vital discussions on how government, academia, industry and other key stakeholders can work together to address these mounting challenges and trade-offs across Latin America.
Dr Carlos Solar
Senior Research Fellow, Latin American Security
RUSI’s Shifting Security in Latin America Programme examines the fast-evolving security and defence agenda in Latin America and considers the most effective ways to counter the leading threats across the region. For more information about the Group’s work, see here.